Measure A Year
by outtie2009
Summary: 525,600 Minutes, How do you measure a year? A story about the gang trying to find who they are, and follow their dreams. Takes place when their in their Juniorsenior years of highschool. SLASH
1. Won't end like this

Hey, guys. This story is gonna take place when Otto and Twister are in their Junior year of High school, and Reggie is in her senior year.

Disclaimer: I do not own rocket power or rent or anything else I talk about in this fic.

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Five-Hundred, Twenty-Five Thousand, Six Hundred minutes 

_Five-Hundred, Twenty-Five Thousand moments so dear_

_Five-Hundred, Twenty-Five Thousand, Six Hundred minutes_

_How do you measure, measure a year?_

Twister Rodriques felt his head hit a cold wall as he slumped down against it. His camera had broken down again. "Piece of shit…"

Every town has it's less-appealing part, whether the lawns simply haven't been mowed in months, or the area was plainly a dump. Downtown Ocean Shores was a dump, and Twister was in the worst part of it.

He had started this… hobby… last year when he was forced to do some community service after setting a garbage can on fire in school. Apart from cleaning garbage, talking to senior citizens, and reading to children, he also had to work at a homeless shelter in this area.

One day while he was walking to the shelter, he passed an elderly woman in baggy clothing, laying on the ground. Out of nowhere, two cops came and began to beat her with nightsticks, threatening her to get off the sidewalk.

It really sickened me, so I did the only thing I could do, with the only thing I had.

"Smile for 10 years in prison, officers" I grinned as they stared into the lens of my camera, which had caught them in their cruel act. They froze, and stalked away.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Twister remembered the woman's voice clearly still today. "I don't need no help from some bleeding heart cameraman. My life's not for you to make a name for yourself on!"

"But I was just…"

"Just trying to use me to kill your guilt! It's not that kind of movie, honey. Im gonna go- this lot is full of fucking artists."

Twister began to turn around.

"Hey, artist"

Twister turned back to expect an "I'm sorry", or maybe a "thanks".

"You gotta dollar?

Twister looked at the ground and shook his head. He didn't think of bringing any money with him.

"I didn't think so."

Then there's Otto. He moved out kind of young, sort of. Not legally, of course, since he's only 16. He hasn't slept in his own bed for about a year now. He stays with our friend, Sean, downtown. And why would he bother giving up his warm, comforting bed for a crappy little apartment in the worst part of town? His dreams.

It started when he was fourteen. First year of highschool. The doctors found he had a mild case of A.D.H.D. It didn't really seem to affect his work or anything, like we all expected, but it did explain his hyperactivity. So, he decided he didn't want to take an elective class where he would have to sit down and listen to a teacher rabble on and on for an extra 40 minutes. He chose to take theatre I. After about a week in the class, he fell in love. With acting. With moving, with pretending he was someone he's not, and it just went from there. He joined Proscenium, the school's theatre group, and had a small, supporting roll in his first musical, A Chorus Line. Although it was small, he gave it everything he had, and the theatre director fell in love. With Otto's acting. He had talent, he could sing, he could dance, he could lie, he could convince anyone of anything. A perfect actor.

In his sophomore year, he took Theatre II, while taking a much bigger role in the school's next musical, Les Miserables. He did an outstanding job, and it took him to this year, which is the year he is finally shining. He is taking Theatre II again, while being supervised by an agent. A real agent. He is also taking theatre classes at our local community college, and best of all, he got the lead role, surpassing all the seniors, of Mark Cohen, in his outstanding performance in RENT.

One day, he asked me to wait for him after rehersal so I could give him a ride home, since his car had broken down. It was boring standing outside, leaning on the car, so I decided to go inside and watch him, and that's where it happened.

He was dancing with Kiki Marques, who played JoAnne, and he was singing in the scene _Tango: Maureen_. He twirled, he danced, he sang, he really was Mark Cohen while he was up there. He was incredible. He didn't care what he looked like, as long as he looked like his character.

He was talented.

He was amazing.

He was incredible.

He was beatutifull.

He's the one I'm in love with.

Yes, that's right. I'm gay, and I'm in love with my best friend, Otto Rocket.

Then came that night that broke my heart. The night that I cried myself to sleep. He was leaving.

By the night of his star performance, he had been staying with Sean for about 11 ½ months.

He was amazing.

He was incredible.

He was talented.

The New York University of Performing Arts thought so, too.

They promised him a four year scholarship to their college. In New York. As in the other side of the country.

Of course, I told him how awesome he was on stage, how good he did, but I couldn't really feel too proud of him at the moment. Maybe that's not the right way to say it. I was proud, but, I couldn't _feel_ any good for him at the moment.

I cried that night, and he saw my light on through my bedroom window at 2:30 a.m., and got worried. He called me that night, and asked what was wrong.

I told him I was proud.

I told him I was happy.

I told him nothing was wrong.

But he knew, he knows me better than anyone else.

So…

I told him I'd miss him.

I told him I didn't want him to leave me.

I told him I loved him.

He said, "really?"

I got scared.

I hung up.

And he is leaving next week.

We haven't talked about that night since.

So that's why I'm here. I'm making a documentary of life in downtown Ocean Shores, how these people need help, food, money, jobs, whatever.

But today I'm going to say goodbye.

I can't leave it like this.


	2. Take your AZT

In this chapter, its going to be mid-winter in ocean shores, and I know that it rarely gets cold where they live, but for the fic, it's gonna be cold.

Fucking Hell 

Otto shivered as he closed the main room window that led onto a small 3 foot by 2 foot porch that dangled above the busy streets of downtown Ocean Shores. _Can't get sick, it may be the last time_.

Otto turned as he heard the floorboards creak as his roommate, Sean, walked into the living, still half-asleep. "Hey."

"Hey." Otto walked into the kitchen to make some coffee. "Take your AZT." Otto tossed Sean the medicine that's kept him alive for months now, since he is battling HIV.

Sean nodded, popping two pills and picking up an old camera lying on the side table. It used to be Twister's, but he had given it to Otto. "Wanna go out today?" Sean asked, playing with the zoom funtion.

"Zoom in on my empty wallet" Otto handed Sean a cup of coffee. "Don't play with that."

Sean placed the camera back on the table, shrugging. Otto ran his fingers through his hair as he made his way down the hallway toward the bathroom to shower and get dressed, bundling himself up in a long, black coat. It wasn't very thick, since he couldn't afford a nice winter coat.

He sighed, heading for the door.

"Hang on." Sean cut off Otto's response with a C-chord he played on his guitar. "I wrote a new song, wanna hear?"

Otto sighed and plopped down on the couch, motioning for Sean to play.

I said I truly loved you 

_I said I really cared_

_I said I'd never hurt you_

_But the pain I willingly shared_

_I thought I loved another _

_I may even love him, too_

_But I am absolutely sure_

_She can never compare to you_

_I love everything about you_

_The way your eyes control me_

_Your soft, red hair flowing down you _

_And the way you helped me to see_

_I love how there is no one like you _

_Always say what you feel_

_And I'd do anything for you_

_But for now, this virus is all we can feel_

Otto grinned and shook his head. "Gee, I wonder who that was about…"

"Oh, shut up. You like it?"

"Yeah." Otto was about to get up when he felt a hand on his arm.

Otto turned around to see Sean, tears filling his eyes, looking like a kicked puppy. "I really am sorry."

"I know."

Otto walked to the door and opened it, about to step out, when Sean's voice rang out one more time.

"Hey!"

"What?" Otto turned once more.

"Take your AZT." Sean through the bottle, and Otto caught it and popped two pills.


	3. Too much fun

Reggie felt her head hit the edge of her desk. _Ow_.

She looked up at her computer screen, then back down at her desk, then back at her computer screen. This became a routine for her just about every day. She comes into work, sits down at her desk, eats breakfast, searches Google, trying to find some sad, sappy story that someone in Ocean Shores would want to read, find nothing, and maybe take a nap.

Of course, she was the new kid, so she never got the chance to write the interesting, juicy stories about scandals or crime or anything like that. Nope, she had to search online over and over again until something came up about some lost puppy, or something stupid like that. Then she would write a short blurb about it. Nothing too fancy, because she had a limit of 100 words, but nothing too lazy either. She had to write a real tear-jerker about a lost puppy in 100 words or less. Every day.

_Should have done better than half of a damn associates degree_.

Reggie, fed up with her lack of ideas, slammed her fist on the desk, spilling her coffee all over her pants. _Fuck!_

Sighing, Reggie walked over to the bathroom to clean herself up.

She went back to her desk and stared at the clock, waiting for it to hit 5:00. The second it did, she ran out of the building.

Still frustrated, she forced a smile as she saw her boyfriend, Justin, waiting for her in front of his car.

"Hey, baby."

Reggie didn't respond, she simply slid into the passenger seat and took some aspirin.

Dan got into the driver's seat and closed the door.

"Could we stop by my brother's place on the way home?" Dan nodded and drove towards Main St., which brought them directly downtown.

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Twister sighed as he stood outside Otto's door, part of him wanting to run in and confess everything he's felt since that day one year ago, and the other part wanted to run back to the car and hide in the backseat.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door, raising an eyebrow when he heard what sounded like- incessant giggling.

"Otto?"

"Hey, is that Twister?" He heard Sean's voice, sounding strangely upbeat, yell out. "Come in, man it's open."

Twister tried to open the door, but it was locked. He sighed again as he heard footsteps coming towards the door.

The door opened, revealing Sean's blood-shot eyes and dilated pupils. Stoned.

"Dude," Twister was about to lecture him, when he saw Otto laying on the couch, joint between his fingers, empty beer bottles on the floor, motioning for Twister to come in.

**Twister's POV**

"Hey, Twister!" He seemed excited to see me, even though he sees me all the time. I walked over to him, shaking my head.

"You guys shouldn't be doing this." I began. "Of all people, you both know.."

"Relax, dude!" Sean cut me off, offering me a bottle and a spot on the couch. "Nine out of ten of those bottle are mine, not Otto's, he's just a lightweight." He grinned at Otto, who threw a bottle cap at him.

Otto took the bottle from my hands, and put it on the floor. "None for you." He stated before going back to his previous position of lying down on the couch.

"Why not?"

"Because you're a good boy, and I gotta make sure you stay a good-boy."

I laughed a bit, not knowing what the hell he was talking about. We had gotten drunk together millions of times as younger teens, why not now?

"You see." Otto sat up, putting out the joint. "A while ago, this boy's brother," He motioned to me, "got real drunk, right? Well, while Twister was helping his brother get to his bedroom, his mother told me to keep an eye out for Twister, and make sure he never got into trouble like his brother does."

Sean started laughing again, and hit Otto with a pillow. "You're such a loser, Otto. Let the boy have a beer."

"Nope." Otto laid back down on the couch. He turned back to me. "You gotta get laid, dude. When was the last time?"

I laughed a bit, shaking my head. I learned that it's best to ignore most of what Otto says when he's drunk.

I stood up to grab my coat and head back home, deciding to come back tomorrow when Otto was sober, when I turned around and saw Sean a _little_ too close to Otto.

"You mind if I stay a while?" I asked, not taking my eye off of Sean.

Sean hesitated, "Well, actually, uhh…"

"Sure!" Otto sat back up, which caused him to get even closer to Sean. "We're here all day."

"Actually umm…" Sean turned to Otto. "Weren't we going to uhhh…. Go… somewhere…"

Otto, not getting the hint, laughed at Sean. "No…." He turned back to me. "Twister, stay! Pleeeeease!" He gave me the puppy face. God, as much as it bothers me, he's so cute when he's drunk.

I smile and collapse into a near-by chair, never taking my eyes off of Sean.

The second I sat down, Otto began telling wild stories that had never happened, some of which had to do with wild orgys and jumping off his roof into the neighbor's pool. (Although I wouldn't be surprised if he tried that.) I laughed, and pretended to remember some of these wild events, since each one included me.

"I'm gonna get a drink." I walked over to their kitchen.

"NO ALCOHOL!" I heard Otto shout. I laughed and grabbed a coke.

…..I swear I almost chewed right through my tongue trying not to say anything when I came back to see one of Sean's arms across Otto's shoulders and his other hand traveling up Otto's leg.

Otto didn't seem to notice it, but I definitely did. Sean grinned as he watched me slowly sink into the chair I had previously been sitting on. Otto started another one of his stories, but I wasn't listening to this one. I kept my eyes on Sean's hand.

"….Then he jumped right in front of the car, and I swear he almost… Stop it, Sean…. Went right through the car, and …" Otto pushed Sean's hand off his leg, only for Sean to put it back, and move his concentration to Otto's neck, where he was biting and sucking, and doing everything I've dreamt of doing to Otto. "Sean knock it off!…. then he jumoed right into…."

"He said to stop." I growled threateningly.

Sean seemed intimidated for a moment, but quickly regained his cool posture. He laughed and turned to me, "He's drunk, he isn't going to remember any of this tomorrow morning." He winked at me and continued his assault on Otto's neck.

"Sean cut it the fuck out!" Otto tried to push Sean off of him, but unfortunately Sean was much bigger and stronger than him, so he easily took control of the situation.

That's where I lost it. I stood up, walked over to Sean, and punched him, right in the nose. I grabbed Otto, and headed for the door.

"Come on, I'm bringing you ho..." I froze as I opened the door to a rather confused Reggie.

"Uhh… Hi?" Reggie raised an eyebrow as she leaned sideways, looking around me to see a smiling, giggling, bloodshot-eyed Otto, then behind him to see a bloody Sean on the floor.

Otto suddenly stopped smiling, as he grabbed my hand, which had some of Sean's splattered blood on it. "Shit." Otto started to panic. "Shit. Shit, Shit!"

"What? It's Sean's blood from where I punched him, not mine, it's fine."

"Shit, shit, shit!"

"Otto, tell me what's wrong!"

Otto grabbed my wrist, dragging me past Reggie and what's-his-face, back into the apartment, past Sean, into his bathroom.

Otto shut the door of the tiny bathroom, and stood in front of me, looking over my entire fist. The lack of space in the bathroom caused us to squish up against each other. _Oh, please, God, I don't ask you for much, but PLEASE don't let me… you know…. Right now!_

Otto dragged me over to the sink and washed Sean's blood off my hand, and continued to check it.

"Otto, PLEASE, tell me what's wrong." I grabbed Otto by the shoulders and shook him until he snapped back into reality.

Otto finally froze and looked up at me with teary eyes and said. "Sean has HIV."

I froze, realizing what the big panic was about. I slowly turned my hands over and over, checking for any cuts that might have gotten some of Sean's blood in them.

"God, why did you have to punch him anyway, Twister?" Otto huffed in almost an angry tone.

"Are you kidding me?" I lifted his chin up so he would look at me. "A little longer and he would have fucking raped you!"

Otto snorted. I felt disgusted that he thought this was funny.

"Why didn't you stop him?"

"I tried."

"You would have gotten HIV, too."

Otto froze, biting his lip, and looking at the floor. He dropped my wrists, and sat down on the counter. "What if I told you," He spoke calm and soft, which relaxed me a bit, "that it wouldn't have mattered if I had sex with Sean anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"If I told you that HIV wouldn't have been an issue…."

"Otto, I don't…"

"Twister…" He grabbed my hands again, this time in a gentle, comforting way, "I have HIV."

My brain went blank. My stomach turned. My whole body went numb, and I couldn't tell if I was still breathing.

"You- You're…" I looked into his eyes. Those beautiful eyes. "No…"

"I'm so sorry." Tears started falling from his eyes.

I couldn't really feel anything, couldn't really think. All I remember was thinking that today could be the last day I ever see him. Or tomorrow, or the next day.

I put my arms around his waist, and he leaned in, expecting a hug, but getting a gentile, sweet, mind-numbing kiss instead.

I'm not sure how long we stayed like that, or how long Sean was standing in the doorway, but we first noticed him a couple seconds after we broke apart.

"You son of a bitch."


	4. No Day but Today

Hey Guys- just wanted to correct some mistakes I've made in the past couple of chapters

In the end of chapter 2, I meant to type "threw the bottle of AZT", not "through"

And in chapter 3, Reggie's boyfriend's name is Daniel. I kept going between Justin and Daniel and somehow I ended up putting both- oops!

Oh, and in this chapter, the characters might be using dialogue from RENT, which is a musical, so if all of their sentences rhyme with rhythm, that's why…

Otto's POV

I smiled. I'm at Twister's house. I knew that the second I woke up, before I even opened my eyes. I've slept in his room so many times before I know the smell by heart.

I opened my eyes slowly as I pulled the covers around me tighter and turned over to see Twister already awake.

"Hey. What the hell happened?"

Twister smiled. I frowned. I hated that smile, the one that said that something was bothering him but he wasn't going to tell me what until I asked.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh?" He turned to face me. "Oh, nothing…"

"Twister…"

"Your arm." He looked away.

I looked down at my arm and bit my lip. There were two small marks, their message clear.

"I didn't want to… Sean got me drunk and…"

"I know." He took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. "Don't do it again, ok? Heroine can really screw you up."

"I won't. I don't like it. It was Sean, I swear…"

"I know, I know." I could tell he didn't believe me, but I left it at that.

"There's something else."

I looked into his eyes and saw that there was something else that was bugging him.

"Nothing…"

"Twister…" That's all it ever takes.

"Don't you remember yesterday?"

I paused, racking my brain. I remembered him punching Sean, then taking me home. That's it. "A little."

"Do you remember what happened in the bathroom?"

I Scrunched my eyebrows together, trying to remember…. "No…"

"We… well, we kissed."

I paused. "Oh."

He took another breath. "So?"

"So what?"

"So…. We kissed." He looked at me, waiting for me to say something. I only smiled at him.

"Yeah… we did."

He shook his head. "That means nothing to you, does it?"

"What? No… wait... it does, it's just…"

"It's fine." He sat up. "You can borrow my clothes and go home. I need to be alone for a while."

I nodded numbly, not knowing why he was getting so upset.

Once he walked out of the room, I put on some of his clothes and my coat and headed downstairs.

I heard the soft strumming of a guitar coming from the basement, and headed towards it.

I opened the door to find Twister crying. Concerned, I walked through the doorway and towards him. "Hey, what's wrong? I've never seen you like…"

Twister's expression immediately turned from sad to angry. I backed away instinctively as he walked towards me.

"Who do you think you are, barging in on me and my guitar?

Little boy, hey, the door is that way. You better go, you know the fire is out anyway."

He put his guitar back on the couch. "Twister I…"

He cut me off, "Take your powder, take your candle. Your sweet whisper, I just can't handle!"

He pointed at the door. "Take your hair in the moonlight. Your brown eyes- goodbye, goodnight!"

At that, he turned away, wiping tears from his eyes. He was whispering, but I could still make his words out. _"I should tell you…. I should tell you…NO!"_

"Twister, just tell me what's wrong and I can help, please!" My pleading eyes met his, causing his to turn cold as he came towards me.

"You'll never understand it, Otto! How much it hurts to watch you hurt yourself like this!" He motioned towards my arm.

"But it was Sean, I didn't…"

"Another time- another place." He walked towards me menacingly. "Our temperature would climb, there'd be a long embrace. We'd do another dance, It'd be another play. Forget the romance, come back another day!"

He collapsed on the couch. I finally understood what was wrong. I placed my hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "The heart may freeze, or it can burn. The pain will ease if we can learn." I sat down next to him. "There is no future, there is no past. I live this moment as my last. There's only us, there's only this." I took his hands in mine, gently. "Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road, no other way, no day but today."

His hands relaxed in mine for a moment, and I felt a strange sensation go through me. _Oh my god… I was right… I do love him._ I looked into his eyes, and that was when he immediately tensed up and stood up, letting go of my hands.

"Excuse me if I'm off track, but if you're so wise then tell me- Why do you need smack? Take your needle, take your fancy prayer, and don't forget, get the moonlight out of your hair! Long ago you might have lit up my heart, but the fire's dead, ain't never, ever gonna start!"

He ran his fingers though his hair, tugging at the roots. "Another time, another place. The words would only rhyme, we'd be in outer space! It'd be another song, we'd sing another way. You wanna prove me wrong? Come back another day!"

I felt my fists ball up. _No, he's dealing with too much, keep your cool, Otto._ "There's only yes, only tonight. We must let go to know what's right. No other course, no other way, no day but today."

"I can't control…" "Control your temper!

"My destiny…" "He doesn't see…"

"I trust my soul… my only goal is just to be." "JUST LET ME BE!"

"There's only now, there's only here." "Who do you think you are?"

"Give in to love or live in fear!" "Barging in on me and my guitar!"

"No other path, no other way." "Little boy, hey, the door is that way!"

"No day but today!" "Take your powder, take your candle!"

"No day but today." "Take your green eyes, your pretty smile, your silhouette!"

With that, Twister cornered Otto towards the door, forcing him out of the house. But Otto refused to give up on the only person he cared about.

"No day but today." "Another time! Another place! Another rhyme, a warm embrace!"

"No day but today."

Twister shut the screen door, getting ready to shut the main door ad he yelled out to Otto.

"Another dance! Another way! Another chance! ANOTHER DAY!"

Twister slammed the door shut as Otto yelled at the cold exterior staring back at him.

"No day but today!"

Please r/r, and Prince Izz- WHERE'D YOU GO! WE ALL MISS YOU AND YOUR KISKASS FICS:'(


	5. One Song Glory

Heyyyyyy guys sorry it took me so long to update! Well uhh…. Yeah here's the next chapter!

Okay the rest of the story is going to be based more loosely on Rent, since the whole lyrics-in-the-story thing isn't working out that great, and I have another idea on how to go through the story….

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Otto woke up the next morning, tears still stinging his eyes from the night before. He stretched a bit, then immediately turned and let out a series of coughs, suddenly feeling his sore throat. Clearing his throat and thinking nothing of it, he got out of bed to go to the bathroom to take a shower.

The second his feet hit the ground and he lifted himself off the bed, the world suddenly spun a complete 360 degrees, causing him to latch onto his bedside table. After pausing to take a deep breath and attempting to shake it off, he managed to stumble into the bathroom.

Holding onto the counter below the mirror, he took deep breaths, trying to regain some energy that was strangely no longer there. Slowly, he managed to lift his head up long enough to look at himself in the mirror.

What he saw almost caused him to loose his grip on the counter and fall backwards.

He stared at his reflection, feeling tears come to his eyes. _"No, not yet…"_

He thought back to the night before, when he had run through the rain and fell asleep in his soaking wet clothes. He had always been so careful before but after what happened with Twister he just didn't care.

He thought of how stupid he was as he gently ran his fingers over his suddenly pale, bruised skin as tears began to fall from his eyes.

His mind quickly raced to calling Twister, no, a doctor, hell, anyone! But as he moved to the door, he suddenly had the painful feeling that yesterday's dinner didn't feel like staying in his stomach at the moment.

"Hey, Otto, you ok?" Sean paused as he saw Otto pale, bruised, weak figure huddled over the toilet, emptying what little food he had inside of him. "I'm calling a doctor."

Otto weakly nodded as Sean ran over to the phone and called 911. After Sean hung up with them, he quickly ran to Otto's side and put his arms around him. "It's gonna be okay, baby, I won't let anything happen to you." Normally, Otto would feel extremely uncomfortable with Sean wrapped around him like this, but at the moment, it felt good just to hear those words from anyone.


End file.
